Rose's Garden

by Carrie Brown

In the four months since Conrad Morrisey's beloved wife, Rose, died, he has let her cherished garden slide into neglect, just as he has stopped caring what he eats or wears. But there, in Rose's overgrown and unkempt garden, Conrad receives an unearthly visitor, familiar yet perplexing. What does this mean? What should he do? What would vivacious Rose have done?

She would not have kept it a secret, Conrad decides, so he begins to share his story. And suddenly he finds himself at the center of Rose's life in a way he'd never experienced, learning how she touched the lives of people he barely knew. These people, from a silent, damaged young woman to the twittering ladies of Rose's drama group, shape his own days as they make unlikely pilgrimages to the garden. Conrad had thought his life was over, but something vital has yet to happen, on the wings of Rose's last message of love.

Incandescent, quirky, and poignant, Rose's Garden is an unforgettable story of undying love.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Romance

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 1998

About the author

Carrie Brown is the author of five novels – her most recent novel is The Rope Walk (Pantheon, 2007) – and a collection of short stories, The House on Belle Isle. Her other novels include Rose’s Garden, Lamb in Love, The Hatbox Baby and Confinement.

She has won many awards for her work, including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the Barnes and Noble Discover Award, the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, and The Great Lakes Book Award. She has also twice won the Library of Virginia’s Fiction Award, and her novel The Rope Walk was chosen as the All Iowa Reads Selection by the Iowa Public Library. Her novels have appeared on the Best Books of the Year lists from The Christian Science Monitor and The Chicago Tribune.

A frequent book reviewer for newspapers including The Washington Post and The Boston Globe, her short fiction has also appeared in journals including One Story, The Oxford American, The Georgia Review, Glimmer Train, and Blackbird. She teaches Creative Writing at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. You can visit her summer reading blog http://bookclub.blog.sbc.edu/.

Reviews

[Larry Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book is about liking a format (Kindle) and liking an author (Carrie Brown). I met Carrie a few years ago at the reading where she read part of a not-yet-published novel. She teaches creative writing at a college nearby. I have now read and enjoyed several of her books, including this one. For some reason I did not write a review when I read Rose’s Garden the first time. I came upon it at my online e-book library today and thought it would be a fine time to revisit this author. She even has a new novel The Last First Day in this past year and I put my name on a wait list to get that e-book too.

I have a relatively new Kindle Paperwhite and am still enamored of my new toy. I still have plenty of unread hardcover used books that I must read one day, plus Barnes & Noble seems to have figured out this summer that if they send me a 20% off coupon I will buy a new book off my wishlist so have a few of those as well. And there is that new independent book store on Main Street that I want to support. The bottom line: too many books to read and review!

Our protagonist is a man of seventy-five whose dear wife of many years has died in recent months. The book is Rose s Garden and is maybe a meditation about or a psalm on this amazing woman. An elegy. It reminds me of some of Annie Dillard’s nature writing. I love both Carrie and Annie!

Sitting in the kitchen, he emptied Rose’s sewing basket, took out each spool of bright thread, lined them up like a battery of soldiers, the pins and needles a sparkling pile of arms laid down, surrendered. One day, he told himself, the clematis would unwind its arms from around the windows, where its plate-faced blossoms pushed up against the glass and stared at him. The grandiflora ‘Queen Elizabeth’, with its pink vigorous ruff, would tremble at the touch and drop its multitude of petals. The poppies would fall, the phlox would scatter, and the air, now choked with drifting clouds of seed, white thistles with black, driving tips like arrows, would, at last, empty.

In a strange way, Rose’s Garden is about the power of the natural world even though the focus is on a garden created by Conrad and Rose. There is an angel who visits and there is a surreal reality that overlays the life of the space.

I am somewhat at a loss for words to praise this underappreciated book but I think that the 1998 NY Times review is worth rereading:

All his life, Conrad Morrisey has been a pigeon fancier. It's how, as a young boy in Brooklyn, he first met the ethereal Rose Sparks, who would later become his wife and whose father, Lemuel, raised a glorious flock of homing pigeons on his rooftop. Now Rose has been dead for four months after 50 years of marriage, and Conrad is paralyzed with grief. Aimlessly wandering through his wife's spectacular garden at the back of their house in a tiny New Hampshire town, he is perpetually dazed, carefully dosing his cherished birds with herbal tea while he himself forgets to eat. Conrad and Rose were like ''a matched pair of animals entering the ark, or the mirror images of a butterfly's wings, things that belonged together, that were not whole unless joined''; as the one left behind, Conrad cannot take flight. But then Lemuel, dead for 15 years, appears one night as an angel in Rose's garden. His message is simple: ''Go home,'' he tells his son-in-law, and that is exactly what Conrad does in Carrie Brown's magical first novel. Through the gift of remembrance, Conrad finds his way to a realization of just how astonishing Rose was -- not only in cultivating her garden but also in her careful, unheralded nurturing of the needy. And when a flood threatens the town, Conrad sees with a visionary's clarity that acts of heroism can be both small and large. In keeping with the memory of its absent heroine, ''Rose's Garden'' is both luminous and wise.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/04/26...

Part of the story of Rose’s Garden is a story about homing pigeons. This is strange subject matter for me. When I was growing up, someone close by in the neighborhood had pigeons and, as a pre-teen, I would go and visit them somewhat secretly. There was something magical about them and there is also something magical about them in this book. I imagine Carrie Brown learning about homing pigeons so she can write about them. They are a part of nature but with a direct connection with their human owners. I think they are sometimes called pigeon fanciers. What a strange name. If I read a review that included the information that the book reflected on pigeons, I think I would not find that very attractive. So I understand your quizzical look! And yet, in this book, the pigeons are a fascinating and integral part of what nourishes our lonely hero and represents the strength and mystery of the natural order.

I think a book with an angel should not be quite so sad and morose. That said, there is magic in Rose’s Garden that includes much poetry of language. The widow has to work hard to find his way after the death of his partner who has been with him many years. The good news is that he does find his way to survive and move on after his loss. The ravages of life work to beat him down and the reader has to hang on tightly to hope that the pigeons will, in fact, come home to roost and that the "Come home" message of the angel will be heeded. I thought this book, although not a strong four stars, kept its strength and luster due to its language. The garden had a nourishing soil that overcame adversity.

[Renae Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that I could read again and again, as the writing is lyrical and almost paints a picture, putting the reader in the hearts and minds of the characters. The book draws the reader into Conrad Morrisey's life as he tries to understand why his true love, Rose, died. Filled with beautiful, poetic descriptives, he survives with the help of the other characters and by witnessing moving events that occur after her death.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful story of an elderly man who is coping with recent loss of his wife. One night he sees the angel of his long gone father-in-law. The word spreads and others are drawn to his tale, revealing things about his wife that he had never imagined. A whimsical, sad, and romantic tale.

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

While cataloging my personal library, I came across this, so I sat down and reread it for some odd reason, maybe because the blurb said if a reader wasn't touched by this, he or she had no heart. I guess I don't have a heart. It's about a grieving widower who saw an angel in his dead wife's garden. Of course, nobody believes him.

This is well-written and has some good descriptions of flower gardens and discussions of homing pigeons (don't ask!)

This is not my cup of tea, but a lot of women will love it -- and maybe some men, the kind who aren't ashamed of crying.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was a beautiful and insightful look into what it is like to lose a lifelong intimate partner and best friend. I found the main character's transformation from mourning and grieving to acceptance an inspiring journey through the grief cycle.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second reading of this book. I read it when it was first published and remembered it fondly. A friend suggested re-reading it and I am glad I did. A beautifully written book that deals with the grief of a 75 year old man who has recently lost his wife.

[Ilene Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Rose’s Garden”. Rose and Conrad met as children. They fell in love and were married for 50 years and then Rose died at 75. Conrad was left alone neglecting the perfect garden that Rose was so proud of after winning so many prizes. Now he has time to think back over all their years together, and what a great life that was. What I like so much about Barrie Brown’s book is the descriptions of the gardens and the beautiful feeling each of them have about each other.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written and sad story about a widower, Conrad, grieving and remembering his beloved wife Rose. It was an homage to the beauty of every life and the lives we touch when we are on earth. It is also about angels both heavenly and flesh and blood, a book about faith and skepticism. As lovely as this book was to me, it did drag at times, but I am still glad to have read it. That said, I had a hard time with the last few chapters, which stirred up some PTSD in this reader.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very special book for me, and gets my vote to be one that I re-read very soon, although I rarely--very rarely--read books a second time, just because there are so many of them. Once, I had the paperback edition; I loaned it to my mother, who must have read it immediately, because I received a hardcover edition for my birthday that year, just weeks after I'd read it.

It begins, "The angel appeared on Paradise Hill the night of the fall equinox, light and dark dividing evenly over the world." But this is not at all a precious book, but full of heartache and hope...thanks to one dead woman's garden.

Conrad has lost his wife of 50 years (yes, the Rose of the title), a childhood friend and teenage sweetheart, and is so broken that he neglects her beloved garden. And he remembers their meeting, their life together, as his life continues and we follow Conrad through his life, his reminiscences.

Oh, I love this book and wish I could give it ten stars.

[book snob (and proud of it, babe) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lovely story about grief; the struggle to continue on, the constant reminder of what you've lost, the memories of the person everywhere you go. And yet, it was also a telling tale about legacy, how, even though your loved one is gone, their light still shines somewhere in your life. You see things through their eyes or recognize something about yourself you hadn't before. You see their influence in the people around you. It's a beautiful thing to realize your loved one isn't really gone.

[Janelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I regret to say that this is the book that made me realize that I didn't have to finish a book if I am having such a hard time with either the writing style or topic. I FORCED myself to finish this thing and was absolutely ESTATIC when the damn birds survived in the end. Absolutely grueling!!!!

[Ken Moffat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book, have read it twice, will read it again. Beautifully written.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book, lyrical I believe it would be called. This is the kind of book that should be read aloud to not miss any of the lovely descriptions and to have more time with the language. My Mom would have loved this book as she savored detailed descriptions of places and people. It leaves a bit of a haunted feeling as Conrad travels between the physical world and visions and memories of his Beloved, Rose, who has recently died.

[Gloria Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd book about Rose's widower in the time after her death. He sees a ghost in the garden who looks like Rose's father. Rose's garden was neglected in the months since she died, but still it gave great yields of many things.

Conrad, Rose's husband, has kept carrier pigeons for many years. In some ways the story of the pigeons is weaved through the book.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of grieving, of legacy, and of how love lasts even when a partner dies. Conrad must find a way to live without his wife Rose. She leaves behind her beloved and now neglected garden, as well as a whole lot of memories, not just for her husband, but for others she touched in her life. A sweet and simple story beautifully told in prose that at times almost seems poetic.

[Jo Adams-Tillery · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bird boy makes good

The book seemed long in the beginning but I kept plugging away. Young love, old love, birds and beauty come together to tell a wonderful story of a town and all the goodness that people share with one another. I hated when I was finished. Excellent

[Anaïs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on a $1 used shelf at a bookstore in my hometown. It is transporting, heartbreaking, profound, and yes, genuinely "lyrical" (as the cover says it would be). It gave me a great gift-- it made me appreciate being young and healthy and alive.

[Jodi Wolper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple story with imagery woven by words that moved me to read them over and over so that they could become part of me. Simple truth expressed with heart and soul and grief that could only grow from great love.

[Marylen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful find. A very gracious book. Makes you believe in “angels.”

[Merrill Medansky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving story about love, grief, life-long relationships and finding ones purpose.

[Wendy Stockard · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Grief is not accountable, it lives wherever it chooses."

Conrad must find his way after the death of his wife. What he finds in her garden is redemption, forgiveness, and awakening.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ghosts pigeons widower

[Paulette Gauthier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful love story with very interesting elements and characters.

[Pamela Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Jodi Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the story, how it was written in the present and the past through Conrad's eye. It flowed nicely, and had some great characters.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tender loving lovely

[Olga Hernandez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story idea--a recently widowed man is visited by an angel in his late wife's garden. But the structure (or lack of it, I should say) makes for a frustratingly slow and confusing read. I think the author's intention was to captivate the reader at the beginning with a mystical scene, and then use the rest of the story (in timespans prior to and after the initial scene) to build to that moment again. Well, I gave up. The writing is poetic and beautiful, but it jumps through time without any warning. It leaves you confused and needing to reread to figure out what/when we are referring to. It actually has the feel of one of those bad, unsettling dreams.

Onto the next book!

[Anne Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to read a depressing tale of loss, this is the perfect book. As a matter of fact, the only happy occurrence in this book was the widower's pigeons saved from drowning in a flood of biblical proportions. This would be a good required reading book for a course on Death and Dying. The author eloquently describes what goes through the mind of an older man who loses his wife, his only companion, besides his homing pigeons. The only other positive I can say about this book is thankfully this widower lives in a small, friendly, town, where friends and neighbors help each other through grief and natural disasters.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though the back cover of this book was very inviting, I had a hard time getting through it. There seemed to be too much background information, constantly jumping back and forth. Much of the information wasn't relevant in my opinion. It was about half way through the book before I could actually understand what was going on. I liked the second half of the book but did not feel the same on the first half. The only reason I continued with it was because I had so much time into it and truly wanted to see the outcome.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story of lifelong love and loss. It's the story of Conrad and Rose, who have loved each other since childhood. Rose dies, and Conrad is completely lost without his best friend. There is a spirituality about Carrie Brown's writing that captures my heart. She guides Conrad through this difficult period of his life, and into a new life, one filled with friends and the memory of Rose. Very lyrical, inspiring writing.